West Sacramento man sentenced to 10 years in prison for pimping while in jail

A West Sacramento man was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week for a conviction of pimping and pandering while in jail on another charge.

In a news release, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office said 41-year-old Ray Lawler Jr. was first suspected of pimping during a stint in the Yolo County jail for a parole violation.

There, correctional staff reviewed his correspondence and learned that he was educating a woman in Texas on how to advertise escort services online, what prices to set for sexual acts and telling her to engage in these acts for money, despite her protestations. He also asked her to send her proceeds into his commissary account.

Lawler was arrested on June 27, 2019, and investigators later learned that he had been pandering to other people in Yolo County and surrounding areas since 2017, while he was still on parole.

On July 10, 2020, Lawler pleaded no contest to a charge of pimping, a charge of pandering and another charge of attempted pandering.

“Without the dedication and attention to detail of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office Correctional Officer taking action and making a report, Ray Lawler Jr. would have served his parole violation and been released to continue his crimes with his current victim,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.